Yami no Kage
by Shin aK1ra-sama
Summary: The Darkness' Shadow. After a frightful encounter with a ghost, Keiichi and Yakumo become more interested with spirits. Contains Japanese folklores starting from chapter 2. Most events are canon to OSDN. Used to be "Keiichi to Yakumo to Yami no Himitsu"
1. American Ghost

"Welcome to Nagoya Airport. Have a pleasant stay here in Japan…" the PA announces.

"**Hmph—**" a youth exits the airport and looks at the night sky.

"_**Eight**** years, huh?**_" he thinks for a while, "_**Will they…remember me…?**_"

After taking a few more steps, he turns back to see the magnificent doors close behind him… "_**Now that I think about it…what was that in the plane?**_"

-- -- --

**SukuRan and Japanese Folklore are not mine…I just enjoy talking about them! Peace!**

**-- -- --  
**

**Note: **"presumed Japanese"; "**presumed English**"; "_thinking_"; "EMPHASIZING"; "PRESSUMED ENGRISH"

**If you haven't read OSDN, please go to the bottom of the page to understand some of the events.**

**-- -- --  
**

**#1 AMERICAN GHOST  
**

-- -- --

"**Hey, **Yakumo, how do I read this?" the youth decides to speak after staring at the first page of a Japanese textbook for well over six minutes. He has bangs even though his long black hair is tied into a long ponytail. He is dressed casually in the residence…and the only things of great note are his accent in speaking Japanese and his blue sunglasses that rest behind his bangs.

"Niisan?" a girl walks into the room and looks at the book. She as well, is dressed casually. Her hair is as black as the boy's but is much shorter, as it barely passes her shoulders.

"Sorry, but I still have problems with Japanese…" the youth lets out a chuckle.

"Keiichi-niisan…" Yakumo, the girl, responds, "Are you sure you want to study here in Japan?"

"**Of course!**" Keiichi, the youth, replies, "I want to finish my **high school** and **college** here…besides…I want to be with you guys…**just like before…**"

"N-Niisan!" Yakumo blushes.

"**Heh, by the way,** where's Tenma?" Keiichi looks around.

"Somebody looking for me?" a girl with long black hair tied into two little pigtails squeals, "Hi, Kei-kun!" Her physical stature is…much less than average…not only that she appears to be underdeveloped.

"Tenma, there you are. So, which school are you two studying at?" Keiichi points a pen to her.

"Yagami Gakuen (Yagami Academy/High School)," Tenma, the other girl, replies.

"'Yagami Gakuen', huh?" after putting the pen on the table before him, Keiichi continues, "Does the school have high educational standards?"

"Yeah! It's so hard there! I pass…but barely…" Tenma confesses.

"**Okay,** the school seems easy enough," Keiichi ends with a short laugh.

"But, Kei-kun, I just said that it was hard!" Tenma repeats the last thing she said.

"That, Tenma, is because you are an idiot," Keiichi lays his words down casually.

"Kei-kun wa hidoi! (Kei-kun's mean!)" Tenma lets out then wonders, "How can you say such mean things like that with such a straight face?"

"…Sorry, I didn't understand the second thing you said…" Keiichi sighs.

"Hehehe…I found Kei-kun's weakness!" Tenma jumps, "You can't make fun of me for being dumb, if you can barely understand Japanese!"

"…Please repeat that slowly…" Keiichi requests to Tenma.

"For you…I'll repeat that in English!" Tenma replies, "Ahem…YUU ARU NOTO TSU HABU FAN BAI CHIISINGU ME FOA BIINGU BAKA, SHINSU YUU ARU NOTO GUDO ATO NIHONGO ORUSO!"

"…**Your English is not what anyone would call…noteworthy…**" Keiichi comments.

"Huh? What does that mean?" Tenma asks cutely.

"Nothing," Keiichi scratches the back of his head, "Yakumo, what do you know about hearing something like an **echo**…in an **airplane**?"

"**Echo**?" Yakumo repeats.

"Yeah, a week ago, actually," Keiichi continues.

"That means **Engrish**!" Tenma answers.

"I said '**echo**', not 'eigo'!" Keiichi gives Tenma an un-amused glare. (note: "Eigo" means "English language")

"'**Echo**'…is 'hankyou' in Japanese," Yakumo explains.

"Oh, I get it now!" Tenma replies, "Maybe you're talking about the **PA system**!"

"…Let's try that again…" Keiichi massages his temples before continuing, "I seem to be the only one who heard the voice. The person beside me didn't hear a thing."

"I think you probably just imagined it!" Tenma giggles.

"…I guess," Keiichi sighs, "…Well…uh…aren't you going to miss your favorite show?"

"Oh! Right! Gotta go! Bye!" Tenma rushes out the room quickly…even her stomps at the staircase could be heard.

"…Yakumo, what's your opinion?" Keiichi asks her.

"Huh?" Yakumo responds, "About the voice?"

Keiichi nods.

"It's probably just your imagination…" Yakumo answers.

"…Has Ojiisama ever told you anything about our family traits?" Keiichi shifts the topic.

"No, why?" she replies.

"…Maybe…it's for the **best** that you don't know…" he sighs then heads to his computer (which is on 24/7) and starts looking up on Google.

"Niisan…" Yakumo sighs.

After a while of researching, he gets a hit, "Huh?"

"Niisan?" Yakumo heads beside him.

"Yu…u…re…i…?" Keiichi tries to read.

"Ah, that's a **ghost**…a wandering spirit," Yakumo explains.

"Hm…the facts do match…" Keiichi thinks aloud.

Yakumo wonders, "Niisan? You don't surely believe that—"

"Hm? That it might have been a yuurei?" Keiichi thinks for a while before continuing, "Facts are facts…and they seem to point me towards there."

"I don't think it's wise to tempt fate…" Yakumo warns.

"How am I tempting fate?" Keiichi asks her.

"Last year, Neesan and I saw a ghost…She…" Yakumo explains.

"**Scared the heck out of you two, huh?**" Keiichi continues for Yakumo, "I don't get scared that easily…besides, I'm more interested on what that yuurei said to me."

"What did it say to you?" Yakumo asks.

"'**I want to see you again…**'" Keiichi answers, "'Mata aitai…'"

Yakumo wonders, "Who would—"

"Exactly. That is what makes this more important…" Keiichi explains, "Aside from our parents, I don't know of any person that I have met who has died."

"What kind of voice was it?" Yakumo asks.

"A female voice…but the voice was too **distorted** for me to know the age," Keiichi answers.

"Mama?" Yakumo guesses.

"**Most likely,**" Keiichi agrees.

"…I…" Yakumo reluctantly replies, "…I…think I would want to see Mama again…_Her caring voice and her warm hugs…I want to have those again…_"

"Me, too," Keiichi sighs, "_**I hardly remember her…but she's still my mom…the one who brought all three of us into this world…**_"

After a long while of reminiscing, Yakumo breaks the silence, "Niisan, maybe…just this once we can try to contact Mama."

"…Uh…Meet Okaasan?" Keiichi rephrases Yakumo's words to see if he understood.

"Yes," Yakumo replies.

"Hm…doing something **occult** would be **sacrilege**…" Keiichi thinks aloud, "Perhaps, the yuurei will meet me again…?"

"It seems possible…" Yakumo replies.

"But…Tenma has to not be around…" Keiichi explains. After Keiichi notices Yakumo's curious expression, he continues, "She'd blab about it so much the yuurei won't want to return!"

"…Neesan is—" Yakumo tries to explain.

"Actually, I just don't want to get Tenma involved," Keiichi sighs, "If something bad happens to her because of our **meddling**, I would never forgive myself…"

"Niisan…" Yakumo sounds a bit glad.

"So, I guess that we will have to wait until tonight to see if the yuurei will make contact with us," Keiichi explains.

"**Most likely,**" Yakumo replies.

-- -- --

(that night)

"Oyasumi nasai, Kei-kun. Oyasumi nasai, Yakumo," Tenma, in her light blue (with bear-prints) pajamas, yawns, while she walks up the stairs.

"Oyasumi nasai, Neesan," Yakumo, who is in her green, vertically blue-striped, pajamas and is watching something on the television, replies.

"**Sweet dreams,**" Keiichi, who is in red pajama pants and a white shirt and is also watching something on the television, greets…this is one of the only times Keiichi is usually seen without his sunglasses and/or his hair free…which is before turning in.

After a while of waiting, the two finally hear Tenma's room door close.

"**Now that I think about it:**" Keiichi thinks aloud, "**although Tenma and I are twins, we are complete opposites…**"

"Niisan?" Yakumo didn't understand what he had said in English.

"It's nothing," Keiichi replies, "So, **theoretically**, we just have to see if the yuurei will return, right?"

"Yes," Yakumo holds up a charm that wards away evil spirits, "And the room with no lights turned on should attract the yuurei even more, right?"

"Yes…and what's that?" Keiichi points at the charm, "Are you trying to ward off the yuurei?"

"No, but it's a precaution…If the yuurei happens to be an evil spirit," Yakumo explains.

After staring at Yakumo's serious expression for a while, Keiichi comments, "**In a way, I was expecting a titter or something, but then again…people change…**"

"Niisan?" Yakumo asks.

"It's nothing," Keiichi sighs, "Now, for the yuurei, we just have to wait—"

Suddenly, some sounds from the kitchen can be heard. Like glass items hitting each other…then a door opening…and closing…

"Hm?" Yakumo looks towards the kitchen.

"That could be one of three things…" Keiichi, un-amused, looks towards the kitchen, "A **poltergeist**, the yuurei we were looking for, or…"

"Yakumo, are we out of **milk**?" Tenma's sleepy voice calls from the kitchen.

"Sorry, Neesan," Yakumo replies.

"…Tenma needing something to drink…" Keiichi does a facepalm.

"Buy some tomorrow, okay?" after yawning, Tenma makes her way back upstairs.

Keiichi just looks at Yakumo after Tenma's gone…making Yakumo ask, "Niisan? Is something wrong?"

Keiichi sighs, then explains, "Well, I guess, I should have added 'Tenma might scare the ghost away' or something of that sort."

"Huh?" Yakumo asks him, "But Neesan would be more scared of the ghost than…"

"That's not what I meant," Keiichi sighs.

"…**S0m3…0n3…**" a distorted voice is heard from the walls.

"N-Niisan?!" Yakumo looks a little flustered and moves closer to Keiichi.

"**Now, that is not Tenma!**" Keiichi scans the living room…which now seems almost completely devoid of light.

Suddenly, the television screen turns to static.

"**What the—?!**" Keiichi turns towards the television.

"…**CAn…y0u…h3Ar…m3…?**" the voice is heard again.

"I'm glad that it is not an evil spirit, but…" Yakumo looks around.

"That's not Okaasan!" Keiichi scans the room once more.

"…**K3!…!ch!…**" the voice is heard again.

"**M-Me?!**" Keiichi responds.

"N-Niisan?" Yakumo looks at her brother.

"…**P13A$3…c0m3…bAck…t0…me…**" the voice wishes.

"**Who…are you?**" Keiichi asks the voices.

"…**H0w…c0u1d…y0u…f0rg3t…m3…?**" the voice sounds a little hurt and angry.

"**I don't know who you are…I don't have anyone who is both precious to me…and dead…**" Keiichi states.

"**M31!$$A!**" the voice yells.

"**Who…?**" Keiichi replies then realizes, "_**That's not possible.**_"

Suddenly, the television screen turns black…completely leaving the room in darkness…

"Niisan…" Yakumo takes a step back.

"It's too dark…" Keiichi complains, "…but I'm glad that I can see a little bit…"

"N-Niisan…!" Yakumo almost shouts.

Directly after having heard that, Keiichi feels someone hugging him tightly, "Yakumo, it's nice that you're looking up to me to **protect **you…but could you please hug more loosely? You're cutting the **circulation** of my arms…"

"But, I'm over here…" Yakumo appears to be a few feet away from Keiichi.

"…Don't tell me that…" Keiichi slowly turns around…to find a face covered in bleeding scratches and black bruises. Her face is a mess…too many injuries to even identify what nationality the girl is…but one thing is certain…she's dead. Keiichi turns to Yakumo and, in his calmest stoic voice, asks, "Yakumo, please break out the charm…"

"Niisan!" Yakumo takes the charm out and throws it to the yuurei.

Upon touching the spirit, the charm causes an electrical effect on the spirit.

"KYAAAAAHHHHH!!!" the yuurei cries and releases Keiichi.

"**Free!**" Keiichi runs beside Yakumo, "Do you have more of those with you?"

"No, I only brought that," Yakumo confesses.

"So, how are we going to get rid of the yuurei now?" Keiichi points at the electrical storm.

"KYAAAAAHHHHH!!!" the spirit is still screaming.

The sight silences the two…making them stare at the charm and the yuurei. After a while, the charm breaks; and the yuurei falls to the floor.

"O…kay…Do you think that worked?" Keiichi asks Yakumo.

"…I'm not so sure," Yakumo replies.

"WHY?" the yuurei gets up and disappears, "**…!…$h11…r3turn…f0r…y0u…**"

The sight leaves the two speechless. Both Yakumo and Keiichi make their way back to their rooms and go straight to bed…in hope that they can even get a wink of sleep for the night.

-- -- --

(the next morning)

"Ohayou, Kei-kun. Ohayou, Yakumo," Tenma, still in her pajamas, yawns as she heads to the kitchen table.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Neesan," Yakumo, in casual clothes and an apron, greets as she hands Tenma a plate of onigiri (riceballs).

"Onigiri for breakfast?" Tenma asks.

"Ohayou, Tenma," Keiichi, in his usual white sleeveless shirt and black pants, does a late greeting.

"Kei-kun wa osoi! (Kei-kun is slow/late!)" Tenma points a finger at him.

"I have a lot on my mind. Please leave me alone!" Keiichi barks, "_**So, now that the yuurei is after us…or me…we should be more careful…but I can't help but wonder: 'who is that yuurei?'**_"

"Kei-kun?" Tenma taps his back.

"Tenma, I asked you to leave me alone for a while," Keiichi barks.

"Fine! I won't talk to you for the rest of the day!" Tenma pouts.

"Hey, Tenma, I found out that there is a super sale at the Yasakani Convenience Store!" Keiichi lies.

"Really?!" Tenma breaks her own vow.

"Maybe," Keiichi scoffs, "_**Perhaps, I can get involved with more of these spirits…?**_"

-- -- -- -- --

**Yakumo: **Next Time on **School Rumble**.

**Keiichi: What a night!**

**Yakumo**: Niisan…

**Keiichi: Nothing else to do now…**

**??: **Next Time…

**#2 Kuchisake Onna**

**??: **I shall meet you then…

**Keiichi:** Who was that?

**Yakumo: **I don't know.

-- -- -- -- --

**Random Notes:  
The first chapter is not so good, since I was planning to make THAT ghost appear much later.  
Obviously, everything is out of whack, since that wasn't something from Japanese folklore…but saying more would be a spoiler!  
Peace! See you next time!  
One more thing: The next thing that I'm going to submit is my "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu" fanfic!**

**Corrections:  
**"'**I want to see you again…**'" Keiichi answers, "'Mada aitai…'"  
**Correction - **"'**I want to see you again…**'" Keiichi answers, "'Mata aitai…'"

**Information Corner:  
This fanfic is set a little under a year after the start of SukuRan.  
Obviously, non-canon to the original SukuRan, since…(note that I don't enjoy spoiling)  
Yamazaki Keiichi is Tenma's twin brother and Yakumo's elder brother, who just returned from America after a little over eight years…and for that reason, he sucks at Japanese. n_n  
For any other questions, just log in and send me a PM.**


	2. Kuchisake Onna

"Physical examination?" Keiichi asks a fellow student wearing black sunglasses. They appear to be at the roof of a school building, most likely Yagami Gakuen.

"Yeah, the senior year's physical examinations will be on Friday," his classmate answers.

"Sou desu ka… (I see…)" Keiichi thinks for a while, "I should ask Tenma about this—"

"Wait!" his classmate interrupts him, "Speaking of Tenma-chan…"

o – o – o – o – o

**SukuRan and Japanese folklore do not belong to me!  
I just love the former and am interested in the latter!**

o – o – o – o – o

**Note: **"presumed Japanese"; "**presumed English**"; "presumed Japanese with a non-Japanese accent"; "PRESSUMED ENGRISH"; "_thinking_"; "EMPHASIZING"

o – o – o – o – o

**#2 ****口裂け女****  
(KUCHISAKE ONNA)  
(SLIT-MOUTH WOMAN)**

o – o – o – o – o

(Afternoon Break)

"**Well?**" Keiichi grows annoyed at his classmate's reluctance to ask.

"Well…actually," the other says. He is about five inches taller than Keiichi and appears to have a semi-muscular build. His black hair is pulled back by a yellow headband. The eyes behind his sunglasses emanate a sense of homeliness…but also see just one girl.

"'Actually'?" Keiichi repeats.

"Can you…" he hesitates again.

"…**Kenji**, get on with it!" Keiichi scoffs.

"Can you help me find out Tenma-chan's sizes?!" his classmate, Kenji, finally asks.

"…Joudan desu ne? (…That's a joke, right?)" Keiichi with an un-amused glare looks at Kenji.

"No," Kenji answers, "So, can you help me?"

Keiichi lets out a single laugh then replies, "If you want to know them, just ask either Tenma, Yakumo, or me."

"Are you insane?! If I were to do that, Tenma-chan would think of me as a maniac…" Kenji barks but eventually slows down, upon realizing something, "Why ask you?"

"**Hm?** I know her sizes," Keiichi replies.

"H-HOW DO YOU KNOW?!?!" Kenji yells very close to Keiichi's face.

Keiichi sighs, "I asked her, **of course!** She trusts me…**Tenma** knows that I won't make them public!"

"She trusts you, huh?" Kenji thinks for a while, "So, you guys are more than friends, right?"

"**Of course!**" Keiichi replies (slightly provoking Kenji), "We're…uh…extremely loyal to each other…That should be a good enough description."

"So…is there anything going on between you two?" Kenji, still provoked, asks, "Like something around the level of 'love'?"

"Well…our bond is like that of siblings. _**More like, we are siblings!**_" Keiichi (convincingly) lies, "If a friendship is that strong, it usually doesn't go any farther…"

"Hm…I see…" Kenji sighs in relief.

"Just trust my words: 'I don't betray'," Keiichi pats Kenji in the back.

"Fine…" Kenji replies.

"So, do you want me to tell you her sizes?" Keiichi asks.

"…Uh…well…maybe…" Kenji can't give a straight answer.

"_**Guilt is overwhelming, huh?**_" Keiichi laughs in the inside.

"No," Kenji answers, "I'll find them the hard way…during the physical examinations!"

"…**Very hardworking…**" Keiichi replies, "_**However, it would be smarter to get the fruit that is already before you…Even though I'm still not going to tell you, anyway!**_"

o – o – o – o – o

(After Class)

While everyone else is preparing to leave Class 3-D (other than those who have cleaning duty), Keiichi is approached by the classmate he describes as a rubber pencil.

"Yo, Yamazaki," the rubber pencil classmate greets Keiichi. He has short orange hair that seems to always be in "cool" mode. He has dark brown eyes that emanate a sense of…a carefree attitude and…perverse thoughts…The reason behind his being referred to as a rubber pencil would be the fact that he is quite thin…and flexible…

"**Kyousuke**, doushita ka (What's wrong?)," Keiichi asks him.

"Nothing much, but…" the rubber pencil classmate, Kyousuke, replies, "…You know about the physical exams, right?"

Keiichi pauses before answering, "…Ee…(an elegant/feminine way of saying "yes")"

"Do you want a TA—GETO (**target**)?" Kyousuke asks him.

"**Hm? Target?**" Keiichi replies.

"Whose sizes do you want to know about?" Kyousuke spells it out for him.

"…Dare mo (No one)…" Keiichi flatly replies, "_**If I were interested in that sort of thing, I'd just read the girls' minds! Then again…I wouldn't—Those are numbers! Of course, I'll be able to understand!**_"

"Too bad…" Kyousuke sighs, "Fuyuki had a good deal for outsiders!"

"I'm sorry that I'm a transfer student," Keiichi replies sarcastically, "And you're talking about the **photographer Takeichi**, right?"

"Yep! See!" Kyousuke shows him photo album containing pictures of various girls (mostly their female peers) near the town's center fountain.

"I can't tell if you guys are **stalkers**, **admirers**, or **perverts**…" Keiichi sighs as Kyousuke flips through every photo.

"Come on! Be a man!" Kyousuke insists.

"Geez…" Keiichi scoffs. After seeing several more pictures, Keiichi finds something that catches his eye. He quickly leaves a finger on the page, prompting Kyousuke to stop flipping through the pages.

"Ah, so you found someone you like?" Kyousuke assumes.

"_**What is this behind her?**_" Keiichi looks carefully at the photo. It is a photo of a beautiful young woman, who apparently may have been sick when the photo was taken, since the photo shows her wearing a surgical mask. She is wearing a white blouse and a white skirt, which reaches all the way to her calves. She appears to have been passing by the fountain.

"Hm? Her?" Kyousuke notices that Keiichi is giving close consideration towards that photo, "Fuyuki doesn't know who that is. He just took a picture then ran like hell!"

"_**There's something wrong about this photo…**_" Keiichi tries to see what's wrong, "_**I have a very odd…yet familiar feeling about this girl…**_"

"…And because of that…it's obvious that she's not a student of Yagami Gakuen!" Kyousuke continues.

"_**Here…there's something…**_" Keiichi looks more carefully at the area behind her, "_**…FLOATING?!?**_"

"So, the chances of finding her again for a photo shoot would be very slim!" Kyousuke continues explaining.

Keiichi looks at the general area of the photo and notices something else, "_**There's a fog? There's a thick fog behind the fountain and near the edges of the photo! That cannot be the mistake of someone so highly revered by the other perverts of this school!**_"

"…And she's interesting to me, since she has big ones!" Kyousuke makes a gesture similar to…fondling…(well, you know) then shouts, "**D-CUP!**"

"_**I should investigate this…What can that be?**_" Keiichi takes his bag and walks to the door, "I'm leaving now."

"Ah, you want to see that girl, right?" Kyousuke's remark falls on deaf ears…as Keiichi didn't listen to what he had said.

o – o – o – o – o

(10:37 PM at the Town's Central Fountain)

"_**…****This is taking too long…**_" Keiichi sighs, as he takes a quick scan of his surroundings then looks at his cellphone (_12 missed calls_), "_**…****Not only that, but I had to ignore a few of Yakumo**__**'**__**s calls…**_"

He's sitting at a bench near the town center_'_s fountain, in hopes that the young woman from the photo would appear…although he has been waiting for about FOUR HOURS…!

"…_**Perhaps, I was expecting too much this time…**_" Keiichi sighs once more, "_**…I should return home now; otherwise, Tenma and Yakumo will be even more worried…**_"

Keiichi slowly gets up and takes his bag. Before he touches his bag, he feels an eerie atmosphere…He looks ahead of him and notices that the night had become a little foggy.

"_**Coincidence?**_" Keiichi takes his bag and turns to another direction…only to be…, "_**WHAT THE—?!**_"

A beautiful young woman stands before him. She has long black hair and very fair skin. She has the height of an average 20-year-old Japanese woman. Her dark brown eyes seem…kind of sad…She appears to be the woman from the photo…still wearing a surgical mask…and, once you notice, the exact same clothes…!

Keiichi's heart leapt from the earlier surprise but has completely calmed down now, "_**Interesting…I guess I can meet her now…**_"

The woman moves closer to her…then asks, "Watashi…kirei? (Am I beautiful?)"

"'Kirei' desu ka… (Beautiful?)" Keiichi asks…since he apparently has no idea what "kirei" is in English.

"Ee…Watashi…kirei? (Yes, am I beautiful?)" she responds and moves even closer to Keiichi.

"…Watashi wa sore wo wakarimasen…(…I don't understand that…)" Keiichi admits.

"Watashi…kirei…kireinai…dochi…? (Which am I: beautiful or not?)" she growls as she moves even closer to him. She is now just a few steps away from Keiichi.

" 'Kirei' wa…Eigo de nan desu ka…(What is 'kirei' in English?)" Keiichi asks.

"Nani? (What?)" she is taken aback by his question.

"I…don't understand Japanese very well…" Keiichi confesses, "Gomen nasai…(I'm sorry…)"

"Then what are you speaking now…?!" she growls.

"I've only learned a little Japanese…" Keiichi sighs then realizes, "_**So this is how it is…? I wonder what was she asking earlier? **_Aa, sou desu! Watashi no namae wa** Yamazaki Keiichi** desu. Anata no namae wa nan desu ka. (Ah, right! My name is **Yamazaki Keiichi**. What is your name?)"

"Na…ma…e? (Na…m…e?)" she asks.

"Yeah, your name…" Keiichi replies then notices some small balls of blue fire floating around the area, "_**Those are—!**_"

"I…am…not interested in this!" she turns her back to Keiichi and walks away.

"W-Wait! You—" Keiichi instinctively grabs her wrist…and feels that her hands are as cold as a stiff's…

"Let go of me!" she turns and slaps Keiichi.

"Ku…" he releases her after feeling the coldness of her slap, "Why do you not wish to speak?"

"Watashi wa…!" she tears her surgical mask off and reveals the rest of her face…Her mouth had been slit nearly from ear to ear! Not only that, but the cut appeared to be fresh…! The joint of her jawbone and the skull can be easily seen when she spoke! However…she does not bleed…

Keiichi stoically holds his ground, "_**…J-Just as I thought! She is—**_"

"…OBAKE!!! (…GHOST!!!)" she shrieks…with her mouth opened as big as possible…

"…_**the **__Kuchisake Onna__**…**_" Keiichi recalls, "_**…So, this is the scenario? I haven't obeyed any of the usual scenarios…so…what happens now?**_"

"Saa…watashi…kirei?!?!" she shrieks as she takes out a pair of bloody scissors.

"_**W-What was the answer?!**_" Keiichi struggles to think, "_**Yes? No? WHAT IS IT?!?!**_"

"Kotaero…! (Answer…!)" she shrieks.

"_**Is it 'no'?**_" Keiichi thinks, "_**No, if I do that, she'll rip me to shreds of flesh!**_"

"Kotaero! Kotaero! (Answer! Answer!)" she shrieks again.

"_**Maybe, 'yes'?**_" Keiichi, now pressured, thinks, "_**No, she'll just follow me and kill me at my doorstep! BUT WHY?! AND WHAT IS THE ANSWER?!?!**_"

"KOTAERO! KOTAERO! KOTAERO! (ANSWER! ANSWER! ANSWER!)" she continues shrieking.

"_**That's right!**_" Keiichi gathers enough courage to answer calmly, "M-Maamaa desu…(S-So-so…)"

"M-Maamaa? Maamaa desu ka…(S-So-so? So-so?)" she asks…then goes into a state of deep thought…

"_**Now, she's wondering about what to do…According to what I have read…I should run now…but…**_" Keiichi thinks about what to do.

"Dou shiyou…Dou shiyou…? (What should I do…What should I do…?)" she thinks aloud.

"Gomen nasai…(I'm sorry…)" Keiichi gets her attention and confesses, "Uso wo…tsukimashita…(I told…a lie…)"

"NANI?! (WHAT?!)" she, with her bloody scissors in hand, dashes towards him…in an attempt to kill him.

"What do you want me to say?" Keiichi asks, before she stabs him in the heart.

She quickly stops and answers, "Tell me that I am beautiful…"

"Ee, anata wa kirei na onna no hito desu (Yes, you are a beautiful woman)," Keiichi answers, "_**I remember now…'kirei' means 'beautiful'!**_"

"Ku!" she can't believe that he said it that way.

"_**Heh…I figured something out…'Watashi kirei?', which means 'Am I beautiful?' sounds almost like 'Watashi kire?', which means 'Do I cut?' If I had answered 'yes', I would be nothing but shreds of flesh before I reach my home…but since I answered completely…she can't do a thing!**_" Keiichi thinks, "_**Fortunately, my Japanese isn't so bad to forget such a thing!**_"

"K-Kirei na onna no hito…? (Beautiful woman?)" she takes a couple of steps back before falling to her knees.

"_**Well? Now what?**_" Keiichi cautiously takes a few steps toward her.

"Kore…(Here…)" she offers Keiichi a blood ruby ("bloody" in two ways…).

"**Eh?**" Keiichi looks at the jewel for a few seconds…then reluctantly accepts it.

"I'm leaving now…" she turns around and leaves.

"A-Arigatou gozaimasu…Kuchisake Onna-san (Thank you, Slit-mouth Woman)," Keiichi manages to yell to her.

"Saraba…(Farewell…)" she disappears into the fog…as soon as she does so, the fog dissipates…revealing the rest of the town's center…the fountain, the trees, the other benches, the rest of the path…but no one else is around…

"…Iie, 'saraba' dewa arimasen (No, it's not 'farewell')…" Keiichi sighs, "Kore wa 'mata ne' yo (This is 'see you again')…"

After putting more thought into his near-death experience…Keiichi drops on the bench, "_**T-There's no way anyone is going to believe this…!**_"

He notices that he is still shivering from the earlier coldness of her aura and hands then he looks at the bloody blood red ruby in his hand, "_**It's probably for the best…that I hide this from Tenma and Yakumo…**_"

He gets up, takes a small plastic bag from his bag, and puts the ruby in it then hoards it in his bag, "_Kuchi…sake…Onna__**…we'll definitely meet again!**_"

As he makes his way out of the town center, he sighs, "_**Perhaps, I should bring Yakumo for this sort of thing…'Safety in numbers' or a similar reason…**_"

o – o – o – o – o

(11:25 PM at the Tsukamoto Residence)

"Niisan, where were you all this time?" Yakumo asks Keiichi.

"I…had something important to do…" Keiichi answers, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He had just started to remove his shoes while he was answering.

"Are you…going to skip dinner?" a concerned Yakumo asks.

"Ee…I don't have much of an appetite tonight…" Keiichi replies, waving his hand at Yakumo.

That is when Yakumo notices that Keiichi's hand has some dried red liquid on his hand. She takes his hand, "Niisan?"

"_**A blunder!**_" Keiichi pulls his hand away and runs to the kitchen, "**On second thought,** I'll eat dinner!"

"Niisan, but—" Yakumo asks before noticing that Keiichi is washing his hands.

"Nani mo arimasen yo, **Yakumo**," Keiichi forces a laugh, "_**Then again…I should tell her, since I am going to have her join me in these investigations……I'll tell her later…**_"

Yakumo reads his mind but…barely understand the English characters…

Keiichi turns to Yakumo and asks, "Saa, bangohan wa— (So, dinner is—)"

o – o – o – o – o

_**Tsuzuku…**_

o – o – o – o – o

**Yakumo:** Next time on **School Rumble**…Ano…Ghosts **Edition**?

**Keiichi: That was surprising…  
**

**Yakumo: **Niisan? Ano…Iori is…

**Keiichi: Hm? Iori?  
**

**Iori: **Nya…

**??: **Nya…

**Yakumo: **There are two Ioris…

**Keiichi: N-Next time…**

**#3 BAKENEKO**

**??: **Nyao!**  
**

**Keiichi: There…is really something wrong here…**

o – o – o – o – o

…_**Omake**_

o – o – o – o – o

After Keiichi had walked out of the town center, a black cat jumps from a tree and lands on the bench Keiichi was sitting on earlier.

It looks around and notices some blood on the ground.

It creeps closer to the small pool of blood and sniffs it.

After a while, it jumps back to the tree it had come from…and a voice can be heard, "She actually gave it, huh? Nyahaha…"

o – o – o – o – o

**Review Reply:  
Thanks for the words of encouragement about this fic, Hamdi-san.  
I really appreciate them! **

**Random Notes:  
Well, wasn't that nice?  
I apparently don't have much of a hand for fear factors or dark gloomy stuff…but, nonetheless, I shall still continue to write! Won't that be nice?  
Oh, and for information about the legend, go to http:// en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Kuchisake- onna (remove the spaces, of course!)  
Anyway, the next thing to appear is my new inspiration! "First Love" (erm…working title) for "A Little Snow Fairy Sugar". It talks about Adel, a few years prior to OSDN!  
I hope for the best! Peace! Mata ne!**


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